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The Press
June 19, 2002
Gagged by the Church
by Yvonne Martin
A
Catholic religious order buried a potential child sex-abuse scandal by secretly
paying a
The 1999 payout followed abuse allegations against a Catholic brother who
taught boys with learning disabilities at a
The complainant, now 51, said the Church bought his silence when it learnt of
his schoolboy ordeal.
So spooked was the man by secrecy demands from the St John of God Order, he fed
his copy of the deal into a garden mulcher and dropped out of group therapy.
"I sort of felt threatened -- and I still do actually," said the
complainant, who asked to be called Patrick.
This is believed to be the first time such a confidential settlement involving
the Catholic Church has been made public in
It comes at a time when St John of God is under siege in
Another St John of God brother who worked at
Patrick's payout of $30,000 in July 1999 followed an investigation by the
Catholic Church's
The punitively worded secret agreement, seen by The Press, forbids Patrick to
comment on or publish his claims or the agreement. It dictates who he can
confide in and orders that he must repay the money to the St John of God Order
-- within seven days -- should he breach the agreement.
Brother Peter Burke, the Australasian head of the St John of God Order, said he
had no knowledge of the deal, but was deeply troubled by its gagging clauses.
"That's the first I've actually heard of this and I'm absolutely shocked
to hear that," he said, vowing to investigate. "It appals me to think
that this is even attached to our Order."
Critics argue the Church has effectively paid hush money to bury a potential
scandal. St John of God made the payment just 15 months after signing a new
Catholic protocol to deal openly and honestly with the scourge of sexual abuse.
Patrick was about nine when he was sent to
The school was run by St John of God and it was there, in an upstairs room,
that the alleged abuse took place.
Patrick claims he was made to reach through the bottomless pocket of the brother's
black cassock to fondle his penis. On other occasions, Patrick alleges he was
forced to perform oral sex.
Patrick said he was permanently scarred by his time at
"I built up a terrible lot of anger," he said.
When he finally steeled himself to seek help, St John of God responded to the
allegations by offering Patrick $30,000 on condition he keep quiet about his
claims.
The deed of release contains strict secrecy clauses, but no admission of
wrong-doing by St John of God or the Brother at the centre of the allegations.
The Brother is now in his 80s and living in a
In accepting the deal, Patrick is forbidden to "make any report or comment
or any communication of any type to any person or identity" about the deed
or any of his claims.
The deal does allow him to share his story with his immediate family and
lawyers, doctors, counsellors and therapists, but Patrick struggles with this
distinction. He refuses to attend group therapy with other sex-abuse survivors
because he fears the Church will find out and force him to return the money.
Another condition of the payout is that Patrick "will not at any time
publish or cause to be published any article, correspondence, book, or other
writing relating to or concerning the claims.
"It's quite ugly, the way they've written it down," Patrick said.
"It was like I was giving my life away. It was saying they wanted it to be
swept under the carpet."
Patrick is speaking out in the hope he can prevent other children falling prey
to abusers within the Church. But he has been warned that he stands to lose his
$30,000 payout for daring to tell his story.
"My lawyers said `if you say anything about it you'd lose your house or
have to pay that money back straight away'," Patrick said.
Brother Peter has given his personal assurance that the Order will not seek to
recover the money from Patrick. "Irrespective of what any document says,
we would never go down that track. He is not going to get a knock on the
door."
The Order has now instructed its lawyers that confidentiality clauses are to be
removed from all such agreements in future.
NZ Catholic Communications director Lyndsay Freer said the revelation of a
secret deal here was "disturbing" in light of attempts by the Church
to clean up its act.
"We're trying to be very transparent in what we're doing, we really are.
The Church is not paying hush money," she said.
--------------------
CAPTION:
PHOTO: STACY SQUIRES "Patrick", now 51, was paid $30,000 by the St
John of God Order to say nothing publicly about his schoolboy ordeal.now 51,
was paid $30,000 by the St John of God Order to say nothing publicly about his
schoolboy ordeal. GRAPHIC: ``I would like to know how many others have
basically been given that hush money and how it has affected them.''Ken Clearwater,
Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust manager